As technology continues to develop and become a critical tool for most businesses, it can be difficult to understand how to protect it without being an expert. A project funded by the European Social Fund called ‘Trusted Mobile Apps’ focused on spreading knowledge around cyber security to ensure employees and organisations were kept safe.

It was key to highlight the cost-benefit ratio for cybersecurity to attract potential participants in the project.

‘Cybersecurity is often seen as an expensive burden  rather than something that delivers value,’ explains Tatiana Galibus, Cybersecurity Ambassador for Sirris. ‘Companies don't always want to invest in it, because the immediate return on investment is not clear.’

‘You notice it only when someone attacks your systems and that is a difficult message to communicate. Yet, cybersecurity can be simple. You just need to take some time to understand it. Simplifying cybersecurity and making it approachable - that's what it's about.’

The project developed safety training for mobile applications with help from Sirris, a non-profit research centre for technology. It looked at the needs of customers, providers and managers to design an app they would find useful.

In turn, the app raised awareness around cybersecurity and gave users the tools to protect themselves and their data from technological issues and attacks.